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Firefly


US private sector venture (Firefly Black LLC of Cedar Park, Texas) to produce a launcher for the small satellites market.

Firefly Alpha is a two stage rocket which aims to deliver one ton to LEO and and 630 kg to the 500 km sun-synchronous orbit. It should be able to launch twice per month from Vandenberg.

Burns Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), 2-stage
Launch from Vandenberg pad 2W

In Oct 2019 Firefly Black LLC, the company's national security and civil space subsidiary, was awareded a USAF contract.


Status: First launch planned in 2019.

SSTL has booked flights from the 2020-2022 period. Spaceflight booked a flight for 2021.

External resources


http://www.fireflyspace.com/


Firefly launches


# Launch id Payload Launch date Type Site Status/Comment (orbit in perigee x apogee x inc. x period)
1 n/a BSS 1 (3U)
Serenity (3U)
Hiapo (1U)
Qubik 1
Qubik 2
GENESIS L
GENESIS N
Spinnaker 3 (attached)
3 Sep 2021 at 01:59 UTC Alpha Failure: first stage underperformance caused by engine 2 shutdown (at approx 15km altitude) after a fuel valve closed
Planned orbit: 300 km x 137°
2 22122 TeacherInSpace Serenity (3U)
TechEdSat 15 (3U)
FossaSat 1B (1P)
Qubik 1&2 (1P)
Genesis G&J (1.5P)
1 Oct 2022 at 07:01 UTC Alpha 216 x 279 km x 137° (lower than expected)
Decayed on 12 Oct 2022
3 23142 Victus Nox 15 Sep 2023 at 02:28 UTC Alpha 476 x 531 km x97.3°
4 23202 Tyvak 1015 22 Dec 2023 at 17:32 UTC Alpha Failure: second stage failed to restart
Notes: in the launch site column V stands for Vandenberg.

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